Seven Hills

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Crossing

I love great big iconic bridges that you can cross on foot. I've walked across the Golden Gate (and back), so this time in New York with some extra time on my hands after wandering around in Brooklyn, I thought I'd walk back to Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. It's so enticing when you see it from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

While the bridge itself was easy enough to locate, it was surprisingly tricky to find the pedestrian entryway. Lucky for me, someone had posted several homemade signs like this one to help along the hapless newcomer.

The walkway runs along the center of the bridge, suspended above the auto traffic. It's made of wooden planks, like a beach boardwalk. Pedestrians kept spilling into the bike lane, causing the occasional speeding cyclist to swerve and ring their bell madly. There were more tourists closer to the Manhattan end of the bridge. A Russian girl got her stiletto heel caught between the planks.

Afternoon light on the stone support. Probably there is an official bridge name for it, something more specific than "support."

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Took a Quick Trip to NYC ...

Leafy streets in Park Slope, very "Squid and the Whale." (Also, noticed that "The Squid and the Whale" was playing at almost every movie theater I passed in Brooklyn and Manhattan.)

Pretty things from Brooklyn boutique (and Lucky magazine favorite) Castor & Pollux. For other Lucky readers, here's the scoop, girls: cute shop, great stuff, but mostly really pricey, and one of those tiny places with like two racks of clothes. Also, as far as I could tell it's sort of on the fringes of Park Slope gentrification, so I felt a bit self-indulgent shopping there. It's across the street from a Salvation Army store that's posted signs saying, "No shoplifting - the police station is right around the corner." Let's just say it's a little hard to picture Lucky editor Kim France making the subway pilgrimmage to hit the racks as she claims to.